A Price to Pay
by Labygirl13
Summary: Updated 2-3 (FINALLY! Jareth has offered Sarah a chance to join him in the Underground to get away from an abusive boyfriend. Will she accept it? Please R&R.
1. Default Chapter

A Price To Pay 

A Price To Pay

Hi all!! I had this idea in my head for a while, and I finally decided to put it down on screen. I hope you enjoy. 

They aren't mine, with the exception of Robert. But believe me, I am not proud of him.

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" Why can't you just leave me alone, once in a while." Sarah said, as she tried to get her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Rob, out of her apartment. She loved him, but his constant consumption of alcohol was a major turnoff for her. 

When they first met, as a blind date through Karen, Her stepmother, they hit it off well and got along. He was a very successful businessman, with lots of potential and energy. But then he lost his job, and he started drinking heavily. And things haven't been the same since.

He staggered towards her, the foggy, glazed look in his eyes. " What's wrong, babe? I just want to spend a little more time with you, that's all." 

" But your drunk, Rob. And you always end up throwing up on my bathroom floor and then passing out on my couch, only to wake up with a hangover and then you are always so pissed off." She said, grabbing his jacket sleeve and leading him towards the open door.

" Why are you in such a bitchy mood tonight, babe?" he asked, his speech slurred as he moved with her. 

" I am sick of this, Rob. You come here at least 3 times a week drop-dead drunk and you expect me to care for you. I am not your mother, Rob."

" What are you saying, babe." He asked

" I'm saying that it's over, Rob. Unless you can get your life straightened out , I don't want to see you. Now would you please leave me alone." She said, as she gave him a final shove out of her door and into the hallway, and slammed the door behind him.

"Come on Sarah, let me back in." he said. " I know that you don't mean it and that you still love me." When she didn't answer, he became really mad and began screaming. " Sarah!! Sarah, let me in right now, dammit!!" 

He kept pounding on her door for a while longer, and kept shouting obscenities at her, but then he stopped. Feeling defeated, he said, " Fine, but I know that tomorrow you'll come crawling back to me." and with that he turned and walked away.

She had to stifle a laugh at that last remark and thought, " Yeah right." as she walked to her bedroom, and went to bed.

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The goblins were in the throne room, carrying on as they usually do, while their King sat on his throne, staring into space and twirling a crystal in his hand. Although the goblins were all screaming and running amuck, he didn't notice it. He didn't notice anything that was going on around him. All he could think about was her. 

It had been ten years since they had last spoken to each other. When she was fighting him for her brother. When he was forced to act like a cold, harsh king. When he couldn't show her the warm, gentle side of him. 

Of course he wouldn't have kept her brother. He saw how much she cared for him and how much she really loved him. He would never dream of doing anything to hurt her. He would do anything for her. 

Two of the goblins who had been fighting over some food suddenly crashed into the throne, causing the crystal to fall from Jareth's hand and shatter on the ground. The entire room fell silent, and every goblin turned to see what their king would do. It had been awhile since someone had been thrown into the bog of eternal stench or dropped randomly into an oubliette. 

But Jareth didn't even notice anything was wrong until he felt everyone's eyes on him. " What?" He asked.

" Sire, aren't you going to punish them?" one of the goblins nearby asked timidly.

" Punish who? And for what? " He asked, not understanding what had happened.

" Noj and Kai, Sire," another goblin piped up, stepping forward. " They were fighting and they ran right into your throne." 

" Oh. Well, I suppose that I could punish them, but it would be a waste of my time and energy. Now I want all of you to get out of here," He said, his anger rising.

" But Sire...." The first one began.

" OUT!! NOW!!!" he shouted, standing up. The room was instantly cleared out. The goblins knew better than to mess with him when he was in one of his moods.

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Sarah walked into her apartment, her arms loaded with shopping bags and grocery bags. After last night, she felt as if she needed to have some time alone, away from her apartment and her phone. She knew that Karen was going to call her wondering what had happened, what had Sarah done to cause Rob to get so upset.

Sure enough, The light on her answering machine was blinking. Sighing, she pressed the play button and listened to the messages:

The first one was her stepmother: " Sarah, I know that you are there. Pick up the phone honey. What happened last night. He is a good man and he is just going through a rough time right now. He doesn't need this from you right now either. Just call him and take him back. Call me later."

The second one was from Rob, " Sarah", his slurred voice said. " Come on babe, I know you're home, cause you never go anywhere without me. Pick up the phone." (Pause) " Dammit, Sarah. Pick up the phone now!!! Goddam..." as the phone clicked.

The third was Rob again, " You Bitch. You better pick the phone up right now. There is going to be hell to pay if you don't pick up the phone. You had better just be in the bathroom for your sake. If you aren't in the bathtub, there is going to be a price to pay. "

After the last message had played, Sarah thought to herself, "A bath would be a just the thing I need right now." And with that, she started toward the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

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About an hour later, she emerged from the bathroom in her robe, drying her long hair with a towel. She smiled and said, "Just what I needed. I'll have to thank Rob for the suggestion if I ever see him again."

"Well now you have the chance, babe, cause here I am." she heard a voice call out in the darkness of her apartment. 

" Rob. What are you doing here? How in the hell did you get in here?" she said, the anger in her voice rising. 

" You seem to have forgotten that I have a key to this apartment, and the reason that I am here is because you are my girlfriend and I wanted to show you how much I love you." he said, stumbling towards her, obviously drunk of his ass.

" That's where you're wrong. I WAS your girlfriend and you WON'T show me how much you love me because there is nothing between us. If you weren't such a drunk, there might still be something between us. But there isn't, so would you please give me the key to my apartment back and leave."

He didn't say anything but he glared into her eyes. His pupils were so dilated and she saw something in them that she couldn't quite make out. 

Suddenly, he wound up his arm and slapped her full-force across the cheek. She fell to the floor and brought her hand up to her cheek. Her head was pounding and her face was already swelling. She looked up into his eyes and figured out what the look in his eyes was.

It was a look of pure rage.

" You should learn to respect me, you bitch. Nobody ever treats me like that and now you are gonna pay for it." he said, storming towards her.

And with that, he began to beat her and pull at her robe. As he did this, she began to cry out loud. Then she began to scream. She didn't scream at him to stop, she just began screaming in general. It got to a point where she didn't know what she was saying. 

After he finished raping her, he decided that she hadn't paid enough for her actions, so he began beating her again.

As he beat her, she kept uttering a few words here and there. She didn't even realize it, but she uttered one word that she hadn't thought about for many years.

"Jareth."

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He sat up suddenly in his throne. He sensed that something was wrong. She was in trouble.

He conjured up a crystal and peered into it. What he saw nearly made him sick. She looked horrible. Her face was bruised, and her white robe was red from all the blood. 

He had to turn his head away from the crystal for a minute, then forced himself to look back. He saw that she wasn't alone and immediately disappeared to go to her aid.

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Sarah had more than she could take, but couldn't say anything to stop him. Because the more she tried to protest, the more he would beat her. Then the more he would beat her, the more aroused he would get and then he would rape her. It became a cycle that seemed to last many hours.

Sarah had lost all hope of help and she had stopped screaming. Not long after that she lost all sense of feeling. All that she could do was sit there and pray that Rob would pass out from the alcohol. How long does it take to go through his system? It never took this long before.

Sarah was thinking of other things and she didn't notice that Rob wasn't on top of her anymore. She looked around and didn't see him passed out on the floor anywhere. But when she looked up, she saw him up in the air, a hand around his throat. She couldn't make out who the figure choking Rob was, but she was grateful that the torture had stopped. 

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"Now you listen to me. If you ever think of touching, speaking, or even looking at her ever again in your life, I see to it that the rest of your life will be a living hell. Do you understand what I am saying?" Jareth asked Rob, the grip on his throat tightening with every word. The only thing that Rob could do was gurgle. Jareth took that as a yes and to make his point clear, he threw Rob at the nearest wall. Rob crashed into it and fell to the floor in a heap.

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The figure moved towards where Sarah sat. She could sense him moving towards her, but she didn't look at him. She kept her eyes shut, and her head down. When the figure touched her, she jumped and started to scream.

"Don't fucking touch me. Please stay away from me!!!!" She tried to move away from him, but his hold on her wrists was too strong.

"Sarah. Sarah, please look at me. Please calm down." Jareth tried to calm her, but she wouldn't stop screaming. He kept on trying to calm her down, but it wasn't working. He began to lose patience with her. Finally, he'd had enough and he slapped her on the face, but not nearly as hard as Rob done. 

She stopped squirming and sat in shock. She finally looked at who it was that saved her, but she now feared that she was looking into the eyes of her new torturer, since a new beating had begun. When she saw who it was, the only thing she could say was, "You." before she collapsed and passed out in his arms.

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Well, do ya like it? I wonder if I should continue with it. ( grins wickedly) Maybe if I get some feedback on this, I'll continue. But if I don't, the I won't. 

I'm only kidding. I would never do that to you. ;) But I would appreciate a little feedback, let me know what you think I should do.


	2. The Morning After

The Morning After

Disclaimer: Let's all take the disclaimer oath (Stand and place right hand over your heart) We don't own any of these character, and don't mean any harm by using them in our stories. So please don't sue us, because most of us don't anything in the first place that we can give up. (Sits down again)

Summary: Sarah wakes up the morning after, and tries to sort the events of the previous night, with Jareth's help.

Hi all. Sorry it took so long for me to get the next chapter up, but I was having this very bad pain in my body. I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with a classic case of pure writer's block. The remedy was a lot of rest and time to think. I also used my recovery time to add a few chapters onto one of my other stories titled, "Looking into your Heart." I have been getting a lot of feedback on it, but I want more. Call me greedy, (Go ahead, I dare you to). So if you feel up to it, go and check them out.

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All that she could see was black, and all she could feel was pain. Whoever was beating her was doing a good job. Sarah thrashed around wildly, trying to get away from whoever it was that was pounding her. She cried and screamed for someone to help her, but it felt like nobody would come.

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She was having a nightmare, and Jareth took pity as he watched her sleep. Even though she was thrashing around in her bed, she was still fast asleep. 

It had been a rough night for both of them, and there was still a long period of time before the sun would come up. Jareth had heard Sarah call for his help and when he arrived to help her, what he saw almost made him sick to his stomach. 

The only thing he could see was red. Apparently, the other man who was in the room was standing over her, pounding and beating her so badly that her bathrobe, which he assumed was supposed to be white, was appearing red.

And the only feeling Jareth had was pure rage. So he did the only thing his mind was allowing him to do. 

He picked up the man by the throat and threw him across the room and into the wall. The man hit the wall so hard that it knocked him out and he collapsed on the floor in a ball. He then transported him to the local jail. At the present time, he was probably waking up in his cell right now with a major hangover and no recollection of what had happened the previous night.

Jareth's focus turned back to Sarah as she began to whimper in her sleep. He didn't want to sit down next to her and hold her for fear that she would wake up, but he couldn't just stand there and watch her suffer.

The only thing he could do was pull up a chair next to her bed, take hold of one of her hands, and stroke her hair until she quieted down. When she finally did, he sat back in the chair and admired how beautiful she looked, even though her face was bruised. He smiled as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

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Sarah woke to find that she was in bed. Her head was pounding and her entire body was sore. At first, she couldn't remember why she was hurting so much. She was having short flashes from the previous night. Someone hitting her, someone raping her. 

She couldn't remember who it was that did this to her. She tried her hardest to remember the face. The only figure her memory brought back to her was a shadowy frame with no face. Sarah tried with all her might to remember, but it was making her head hurt so much worse than it already was, so she had to give up.

Sarah rolled onto her side and curled up into a little ball. It was the only comfortable position for her. She didn't hear the soft breathing of the figure sitting in the chair next to the bed. She opened her eyes to see Jareth sitting there, fast asleep. The only thing that she could do was scream. 

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Jareth stood up instantly, knocking the chair over in the process. The screaming coming from the Sarah in the bed had scared him. He instantly tried to calm her down. "Sarah, please calm down. Sarah listen to me. It's okay. Please calm down." he said, trying to hold her and stroke her hair.

The only thing that Sarah could do was curl into her little ball, and shrinks away from his touch. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that this was all just a terrible nightmare.

Jareth felt so useless. He wanted to comfort her, and take away all of her pain, but if he tried to get near her or even touch her, she would scream louder and shrink away from his touch. He felt the best thing would be to stand away from her until she calmed down.

Sarah continued to sob out loud and cry for a long period of time. Why was he here? Why couldn't he just leave her alone? 

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, ears flowing down her cheeks.

"You were in trouble, and you called for me. So I came here to help you." Jareth said, taking a few cautious steps towards her.

"No. It was you. You were the one who was beating me. This is all your fault. How could you do this to me?" She screamed at him.

Jareth didn't know it, but Sarah's last question had more than one meaning behind it. Sure, she thought that he was the one who beat her, but she was also asking why she came back into her life after all these years, when it seemed like she had finally gotten over him.

Not long after she had defeated his Labyrinth, she found that she was constantly thinking about him. It seemed like he was always on her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about the many confrontations that they had in that time. Especially when they were dancing at the ball together. She had loved the feeling of being in his arms. Sometimes she would hope that he would come back to her, even if it was for a visit.

But she began to grow up, and date boys. It was very hard for her, but she got over him. Or at least she thought. Right now, her head was pounding. First of all, she couldn't remember anything that happened the previous night. Second, she couldn't understand how or why she called for Jareth and that he had actually responded. And third, she didn't know if the feelings that she had for him in the past that she had buried were now resurfacing.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Sarah, but all I know is that I was just sitting on my throne, not doing anything, and suddenly I felt a bad vibe. I didn't know what it was, but I could tell that something was wrong. And somehow, you were involved." Jareth said, continuing his slow walk to the side of her bed.

"When I arrived here, I found you curled in a ball in the corner of the living room, with a man, who I assume is your boyfriend and who appeared to be very intoxicated with his pants around his ankles, was standing over you, constantly kicking and beating you, and doing things to you that I can't even imagine anyone doing to anyone else."

"The only thing I could think to do was dispose of him immediately." Jareth said, sitting down in the chair next to the bed very slowly, careful not to disturb her.

"You didn't do anything terrible to him, did you?" Sarah asked, not remembering a single word that Jareth was saying, but being humanitarian, she couldn't imagine anyone hurting another person.

"What do you take me for, some kind of sick jerk?" Jareth asked. "Of course I didn't. Except that I picked him up and threw him against the wall, but it was so that he would leave you alone. Then I transported him to the county jail, so that he would sober up with all the other drunks."

"Well, if you have all the answers, how did I end up in my bed in a clean set of pajamas, when you said that I was all bloody?" She asked him.

"Well, you were hurt so badly, and I didn't really want to take you to the hospital, so I had to clean you up and change you out of your robe and into some clean clothes." he said, looking down at his hands. 

Sarah looked down at her hands as she felt her cheeks flare up. She couldn't believe that Jareth had seen her body. Jareth saw her blush and quickly reassured her, "Believe me when I say this Sarah, but I was so involved in taking care of you, that the fact that you were naked didn't eve cross my mind. And even if it did, I wouldn't have done anything to you in your vulnerable state."

While saying this, Jareth took both of her hands in his own, not thinking about whether or not she would cower away from him again. Sarah was letting all of this sink in and didn't realize that Jareth had grabbed her hands. 

"Now, do you believe what I am saying?" Jareth asked her. The only thing that Sarah could do was nod. "I believe you, but I cannot remember any of it," she said as she felt the tears brewing in her eyes and begin to pour down her face. 

Without hesitation, Jareth perched himself on the bed next to her, held her in his arms, and began to rock back and forth, cradling her and trying to comfort her. Sarah allowed herself to let go, and clung to him for dear life as she sobbed into his chest. The only thing that he could do was continue to rock her and stroke her hair, trying his best to comfort her. 

"Do you need anything, right now," he asked her after she had quieted down. She shook her head, which was still buried in his chest.

"All I want is to get away from this. I just wish that I could hit pause on my life so that I can sort out what happened." she replied.

"Then that's what we'll do," Jareth said, as he let go of her and stood up and walked around to the edge of the bed.

"What's what we'll do?" Sarah asked, confused about what was going on, and not understanding what he was saying.

"I'll take you back to the Underground with me. We put this world on hold so that you can sort everything out and try to put it behind you." Jareth said. "Would you like to do that?"

Sarah didn't know what to say. Jareth was standing here, offering to take her away from all of this pain, and to give her time to heal. But how did she know that she could trust him. She couldn't decide.

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What is Sarah going to decide? Should she go with Jareth, whom she hasn't seen in a long time and doesn't know if she can really trust him, or should she stay here and try to sort everything out on Earth. The sooner you leave reviews giving your response to this question, the sooner I might be able to post another chapter. (Hopefully it will be a lot sooner than the last time.) So please leave you questions, comments and concerns on the way out. :)


	3. A Shocking Discovery

A Shocking Discovery  
  
Disclaimer: Nothing has changed since the last time, so I won't even bother. Just remember, if you sue, I'll have nothing for you.  
  
Summary: Sarah makes a decision that she thinks is the right decision. But she soon realizes that it was anything but.   
  
Hey all. Sorry that it took me so long to update this one, but I got backtracked with my work and school and adding chapters to my other stories (Feel free to read them also. I just updated one of them,) Anyway, feel free to leave feedback on your way out. And thanks for all the feedback that I got on the first two chapters. See ya.  
  
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"Well, what do you say Sarah?" Jareth asked her. " Would you like to come and stay with me in the Underground?"  
  
Sarah's mind was all mixed up. Jareth had just offered her a chance to stay with him until she got everything in her life sorted out, but she didn't know if she wanted to leave.  
  
"I don't know, Jareth. I....I just don't know. I sure that I would be happy down in the Underground, but I would miss my life up here."  
  
"What life?" Jareth asked. "I didn't mean to invade your privacy, but I have been watching you for a long time, Sarah. Ever since you defeated me." stressing those last words, as if it was painful for him to utter them.  
  
Sarah stared at Jareth in shock. "Anyway," Jareth continued, "As I said, I have been watching you for a long time, and I have noticed that you haven't really had much of a life."  
  
Sarah could feel the anger inside her rise up. Jareth could see it in her eyes and in her cheeks. He instantly regretted telling her his secret.   
  
It had started very innocently. He had told her that he loved her when she wished Toby away, and when she defeated him, it broke his heart. After she had left with her little brother, he was very lonely. He thought it would be a good idea to see what she had been up to, so he began to watch her through his crystals.  
  
"How dare you spy on me!" Sarah spat at him. "You had no right to invade my privacy the way you did."  
  
"Sarah, please calm down. The only reason that I watched you is because...." he couldn't finish. He couldn't bring himself to tell her how he felt about her. He was sure that she would laugh in his face.  
  
Sarah waited for him to finish his sentence. When he didn't, she said, in a very cold tone, "Because why, Jareth?"  
  
He looked away and said, "It doesn't matter. The point is that you never did anything in you life. After you were in my Labyrinth, you grew up, graduated from High School, went away to college, graduated from college, and got a job.   
  
Jareth stood up and moved over to the windows. As he moved, he said, "Like I said earlier, You really don't have much of a life, Sarah."  
  
Sarah just stared coldly at Jareth. She knew that he was right, but she wasn't about to admit it to him. This was her enemy. This man kidnapped her little stepbrother so many years earlier. This man made her play his game and solve his Labyrinth. He also drugged her to try and make her forget about Toby.  
  
"You had no right to invade my privacy, Jareth," She said as she sat up on the bed. "No right at all."  
  
"Yes Sarah," Jareth said. "I know. It's just that I wanted to keep an eye on you." That was one of the biggest lies that he had ever told anyone. He regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth.  
  
"Why. Jareth, what are you not telling me?" She asked him. Jareth looked at her for a minute. What should he say. He wanted so much to tell her how he felt about her, but he was a coward.  
  
A thought popped into his head, and he smiled as he said, "Because I wanted to make sure that nothing happened to the one person who has defeated me."  
  
He moved back over to the bed and sat on it while saying, "God knows that if anything happened to you, I would be eternally bored."  
  
"I am not following you, Jareth," Sarah said. Jareth chuckled and said as he put his hand to her face, "When you went through my Labyrinth, you were determined to get through it because you were determined to get your brother back. Others who have gone through only do it to save their asses. That set you apart from others, Sarah. It made it more of a challenge to try and beat you."  
  
"So like I said, if anything had ever happened to you, my greatest challenge would've disappeared and I would have had nothing to do." This last remark caused Sarah to smile. It was nice to know that she was his greatest challenge.  
  
Jareth removed his hand from her face and said, "So what do you say? Will you come with me to the Underground?"   
  
Sarah froze. She was still confused. She thought that Jareth was supposed to be his enemy, but the way he had sat with her last night, and the way that he held her or touched her, made it seem like there was something else to him, and for some reason, it terrified her.  
  
"Jareth," she began. "It's very nice of you to offer this to me. But I don't think that I can do it."   
  
Jareth was shocked. He had thought that Sarah would have come with him for sure.   
  
"Are you absolutely sure, Sarah?" He asked her. Sarah hesitated, then nodded her head. She looked into his eyes and for a moment, she thought she saw something along the lines of sadness, but as soon as she saw it, it had faded away and replaced by the usual coldness.  
  
Jareth sighed and said, "Very well. I will leave you to your life then. But if you ever need me for anything Sarah, anything at all, feel free to call out my name." And with that, he was gone in a cloud of glitter.  
  
Sarah stared as the glitter fell and settled into her carpet. She got up and entered the bathroom to see how terrible her bruises were. she was shocked to see that her face was clear as day. She wondered how that could be possible. The she remembered that Jareth had been touching her face earlier.  
  
"He must have healed me somehow when he touched my face." she thought to herself as she walked out of the bathroom into the living room. She saw that her message light was blinking and pushed the play button.  
  
" Hey babe," she heard Rob' s slurred speech talk to her. "Look, babe. I got a small problem. I somehow wound up in jail last night, and I need you to do me a favor. If you could come down here and post my bail, that would be great." he hung up.  
  
Sarah sighed as she walked back into her bedroom to get dressed to head down to the local jail and bail Rob out.  
  
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It had been nearly a month, and Sarah was even more miserable. The beatings that Rob had given her had gotten more frequent, and they were a lot worse.   
  
After she posted bail for him a month ago, the two of them sat down a talked for a while, and Rob promised that he would get some help for his drinking problem.  
  
Unfortunately, his sobriety lasted for only about a day and a half. They had gone out to a fancy restaurant to celebrate their new life together when Rob excused himself to go to the bathroom. When he hadn't returned for a few minutes, Sarah became worried and she walked towards the bathrooms to look for him.  
  
When she saw him in the bar, she was furious. She walked over to him to confront him, and he said that she was overreacting and that he had only had one little drink. Sarah wasn't dumb and could see that Rob was working on his fourth or fifth drink.   
  
She grabbed him and pulled him out of the restaurant where they were eating and started screaming at him, telling him again that their relationship was over. She had called him a no good, lousy drunk, and that his life wouldn't amount to anything.  
  
Apparently, that last comment had hit a nerve with Rob, and he smacked her hard across the face, just like he had done a few days earlier. He shoved her into his car and drove to her apartment at about eighty miles per hour. When they had arrived, he forced her into her own apartment and smacked her around some more until he passed out.  
  
When he came to the next morning and saw what he had done, he ran out and bought her a bunch of roses and a beautiful diamond tennis bracelet as an apology.   
  
Sarah wanted to spit in his face and throw him out of her house, but when she saw that he had bought all this for her and was expecting an apology from her, she became frightened. If she had refused his gifts, he would've probably hit her again. So she had accepted his apology.  
  
Since then, the beatings haven't ceased at all for her. She was terrified of Rob, and wanted to get away from him. But she was afraid that if she tried to break things off with him again, the same thing that happened before would happen again. And that terrified Sarah even more. She felt terrible.   
  
And to top everything off, Sarah had been waking up almost every day and immediately felt sick to her stomach. Then she would run to the bathroom and throw up. She felt like she knew what it was, but she refused to believe it. She told herself that it was because of Rob that she had been sick to her stomach, even though she knew it was a lie.  
  
@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*  
  
Jareth was furious. He had continued to watch Sarah after their last confrontation nearly a month ago, even though she had yelled at him. Every time he watched, he grew more and more angry. At Rob, at Sarah, and at himself.  
  
He desperately wanted to go to Sarah and talk some sense into her, but she had turned him down. He was still bitter about that. He had thought of every possible way to get Sarah out of the state she was in, but with every plan there was a downside that showed that plan wouldn't work.  
  
Jareth had thought of everything and couldn't think of a way to get Sarah out of her relationship. It worried him. He thought that the longer he took to reach a solution, the worse her chances of surviving the hell that she was living in would be.  
  
@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*  
  
Sarah jumped as she heard the timer go off in the bathroom. It was the longest ten minutes that she had to wait. She nervously walked into the bathroom and picked up the test. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She then looked at the test to see what the results were. She then looked at the box and back to the test, to make sure that she had read the results right.   
  
She dropped both the box and the test, and backed over to the toilet and sat down in shock. It was her worst thoughts coming true right in front of her very eyes. She was trapped in a living hell with Rob as her own personal Satan. Now to top it all off, she was pregnant with his child. Sarah buried her head in her hands and began to cry softly. The cries escalated into sobs, which then escalated into screams.   
  
She continued to scream until her voice was hoarse and she continued to cry until she was cried out. Finally, she picked herself up off of the floor and walked back into her bedroom. She crawled under the covers and curled into a little ball where she fell asleep, hoping that she would wake up and this would all be a dream.  
  
@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*  
  
How was that little installment for you. What do you think I should do in the next chapter? I really would appreciate your opinions, and would give you the credibility that you deserve for your ideas. But if you have no ideas, I would appreciate any comments on the story. It's not like I sit in my dark room and watch the review counter on my computer screen all day. (I am just kidding.) See you all later, and please leave the comments. 


	4. What Now?

All right, I know that it has been nearly three years since I updated this one, and I decided (With the help of some recent feedback from people who actually wanted me to continue this story) here is another chapter for you. This one will be very small and short, but it is better than me not doing anything with this story and leaving it to gather dust. Please keep in mind that the last time I wrote for this story, I was still in my teens, and this was one of the first fanfics that I had ever written. I would like to think that maybe I have grown and matured as a writer since then.

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated.

Sarah slowly awoke to find herself curled in a little ball on the floor of the bathroom. As she sat up, her head throbbed and she grabbed it and began to massage her temples, trying to keep a migraine at bay. She looked around the bathroom from where she sat on the floor, and saw the pregnancy test sitting on the corner of the sink, and her thoughts drifted back to earlier that evening.

She remembered feeling like someone kicked her in the stomach and also thought that all hopes of possibly getting out of her relationship with Ron were completely diminished when she saw the little plus sign on the pregnancy test. She cried for a long time before she fell asleep on the floor, where she was now.

That was nearly five hours ago, Sarah confirmed by looking at her watch and seeing that it was late at night. Deciding she didn't want to think about the test or the baby or anything else right now, Sarah pulled herself up off the floor and headed in toward the bedroom. She saw that Ron was passed out on the bed, still in his clothes, and stinking of alcohol and cigarette smoke.

With a sigh, Sarah worked to get him out of his clothes and under the covers while he lay there, completely passed out for the night. Once she was finished with him, she changed into a set of pajamas and climbed into the bed next to him. As she settled into the bed, Ron rolled over in his sleep and flopped over on top of her, his head resting on her shoulder, and an arm over her stomach.

The smell of cheap liquor on his breath made Sarah sick to her stomach, and she used all of her self-control not to get up and run toward the bathroom that she had just emerged from not five minutes earlier. Gently pushing his shoulder, Sarah was able to coax Ron to turn in his sleep to his other side. When she had successfully moved him, Sarah let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding.

Turning away from Ron, Sarah lay on her side and tried to sleep, only to realize that her thoughts were keeping her awake. She thought about how her life had changed in the past couple of weeks. She thought about how she could bring a child into this world with the man who slept beside her, when she knew that he probably wouldn't do a thing to help her care for it.

She also thought about her last encounter with Jareth. She still couldn't remember calling him to help her that night, even though he said that she did. It was all so frustrating to her. Even if she did call on him, why? After all those years since she played his game and made her way through the Labyrinth, she had not thought about him. She wondered why he would be watching her for all those years after she beat his game.

It was Jareth who was on Sarah's mind as she finally drifted off to sleep.

Jareth sat in his throne room, and watched through his crystal as Sarah undressed Rob and got him into bed, then did the same to herself. He frowned in utter disgust as Rob flopped over her and used her as a pillow, then smiled as Sarah gently pushed him away from her.

Deciding that he had seen enough for the night, Jareth threw the crystal up into the air, which disappeared mid-air before it fell to the ground. He stood and headed toward an open window in the throne room and looked out. Night had fallen upon the Underground, and everything shone in the moonlight. It was very peaceful and tranquil now, and it had always been Jareth favorite time to sit and be with his thoughts.

"Sarah, why did you refuse me when I offered myself to you?" Jareth said out loud. "I could've given you everything. I would've made you happy. I would've given you your dreams."

Suddenly, Jareth had an idea. He would visit Sarah in a place where he knew she wouldn't be able to turn him away, because she would want him there. Turning on his heel, he headed down a long hall to put his plan into action.

Yeah, I know this was short, but hopefully there will be more soon. Let me know what you think.


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